Below you can find the step-by-step tutorial written by Mark Hiesh. For more information about the design of this Mercedes CLR 600 concept car, click here.

The first step, you got to have a proper sketch with a decent perspective view, which is crucial for further use.

There should be many drawing tutorials featuring how to make good path in photo shop. So make the path according to different parts ( ex: body, windscreen, front face, spoiler, and grill….act) shadows and reflections.

Now you can put basic colour to make your design revealed gradually. Therefore you can see the volume of the body, windows and wheel arch inside.

The environment is supposed to be a photo studio, so there is no frill of obstacle from the environment of normal road scene. We have to make the reflection simple and effective in order to highlight the design.

It is easy to make a set of wheel/rim rendering with software such as Alias Image Studio. Put the wheels at this step and you will have a general understanding of the overall stance.

There are 2 light sources from left and right. So just use a big airbrush to put the main shading, ignore any detail at this step.

Put the shading of the front wheel arch and shoulder feature, alongside with the waist section.

Darken the lower part of the body and reveal the rear wheel arch and the shoulder.

Black out the front face to see if the proportion is right.

Add reflections to the body. These reflections are derived from the shadow of the vehicle itself and the ground of the environment. Then put the chrome out line of the front face. Notice the styling of the front fender is clarified in this stage.

Add some high lights to the edge of the reflections. They are derived from the transition from ground to the wall of the photo studio.

Now it’s time to put some parts to the body.

Find a proper car photo and cut its headlamps. The see-through green house makes this car rendering more realistic.

Add reflection to the windows. The dark area is derived from the edge of the wall and the white area indicates the sky light.

Finally, it will become more dramatic if you light up the headlamp and spoiler light.

And the badge, I think this is the most interesting thing to do in this exercise.

After adding the door line, the rendering is completed.

About the author

• Mark Hsieh is a Coventry graduate in Automotive Design (MA, 2003)
• He is currently project designer and freelance automotive illustrator, and teaches car design courses in Taipei.
• He runs an automotive-related weblog called "The Motor Utopia", with information available in Chinese language.
• email: cviskayak@hotmail.com